Cardiff is breaking up with single use coffee cups
It’s Zero Waste week and we have some big news!
We’re helping Cardiff break up with single–use! We’ll be bringing our returnable coffee cup scheme, the Refill Return Cup, to Cardiff next month to tackle the issue of single-use coffee cups in the city. Building on the success in Bristol and Bath, the scheme – the first-of-its-kind in Wales – will enable Cardiffians to ‘borrow’ a reusable takeaway cup and return it at a later date to any participating café so that it can be washed and used again and again.
The Cardiff Refill Return Cup will roll out across cafes in the city from October 4th 2024 and could help prevent up to 30,000 single-use coffee cups from being used. We’re delighted to have partnered with FOR Cardiff to bring the scheme to the Welsh capital, with the help of funding from the UK government through the Shared Prosperity Fund. As in Bristol and Bath, the scheme will be powered by our award-winning Refill app and will enable Cardiff residents and visitors to easily find locations to pick up and drop off their reusable cup.
The pilot phase of the scheme will run until the end of March 2025 and aims to reduce waste and tackle pollution and littering across the city. The impact of the scheme will be measured and evaluated by the Greenwich Business School at the University of Greenwich and the Cardiff Business School at Cardiff University, in hopes that the data will help to provide a blueprint for future schemes across the UK.
Meet the businesses pioneering refill and return in Cardiff
We’re pleased to welcome some of Cardiff’s most-loved cafes and coffee shops to the scheme, including Waterloo Tea in Wyndham Arcade, Pettigrew Bakeries (three locations across the city – Castle Arcade, Bute Park and Roath), Da Coffee (two locations at Tramshed Tech and One Central Square) and, Bird &Blend Tea. Each venue has committed to offering a minimum of 15p discount on the price of a coffee for anyone using the scheme, meaning not only do you save plastic but you save money too!
Working in partnership to tackle plastic pollution in Cardiff
At City to Sea, we LOVE a collaboration. So we’re pleased to be working in partnership with FOR Cardiff, Cardiff Business School, Greenwich Business School and with so many brilliant coffee shops to bring the scheme to Cardiff. Here’s what people have to say about the news…
Our 2021-26 FOR Cardiff business plan clearly sets out our ambition to support businesses and work with local stakeholders to improve sustainability of our city centre, so we were thrilled to secure the funding we need to bring this exciting pilot to life. We’re positive that Cardiffians will get behind the scheme and help us to prevent up to 30,000 single-use cups from ever being used.
Over the years we have consistently looked at ways to offer takeaways more sustainably – from offering discounts for people using their own cups, to making sure we sourced biodegradable materials for cups and packaging – but there are various challenges with both of these approaches. Being part of this pilot was an absolute no brainer for us as, it is clearly the most sustainable option; we’re really excited to get started we know our customers’ will jump at the chance to tackle the issue.
Building on the success of the Refill Return Cup in Bristol and Bath, we are thrilled to be working with FOR Cardiff to bring the scheme to Cardiff and prevent thousands of single-use hot drink cups from entering the waste stream. We are very excited that the project will act as the first Welsh pilot to better understand the most effective way to operate the system and engage the public and local businesses – pollution and single-use litter is a challenge we must all play a part in tackling.
Billions of single-use coffee cups are thrown away each year but this new scheme will ensure that for the first time here in Cardiff, there is a practical, sustainable alternative. Helping reduce the amount of waste we all create is an important part of our One Planet Cardiff strategy and I’m delighted that, working with our partners at FOR Cardiff, we’ve been able to help secure the funding that is bringing the scheme to Cardiff.
Want to help Cardiff break up with single-use?
Any other Cardiff venues who would like to be part of the scheme should get in touch before 13th September by emailing Rhiannon at FOR Cardiff via email at [email protected].